30 Memories
by kat-thefox
Summary: ItaSasu, Uchihacest, ItachixSasuke, INCEST only not really. It's mostly just brotherly stuff. Mostly. A set of drabble prompts stolen off of lj, focusing on the memories of Uchiha Sasuke. Fluff and angst to follow.
1. Ten Years Ago

**Challenge:** 30 Memories  
**Rated (entire set):** PG-13, T  
**Pairing:** ItachixSasuke, shounen-ai  
**Warnings:** INCEST, duh. :B Overly fluffy brotherly stuff that shouldn't be possible for Uchihas. Fangirl Japanese. (Mostly "nii-san" and "aniki" and "otouto" and blah.)  
**Disclaimer:** The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama

**A/N:** Stole these prompts off of the lj community 30(underscore)memories, because they begged me to write ItaSasu. :3  
Full info -points to the stuff above- on this chapter only.

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**01: Ten Years Ago...**

Ten years ago, Uchiha Sasuke thought, had been over a lifetime ago.

Walking aimlessly through the deserted Uchiha compound, it was all too clear just how long ten years had really been. The clan emblem still adorned every surface as it had before, but the paint had long worn to a faint remnant of what once was.

It seemed appropriate, Sasuke decided.

Ten years--not so long ago, really, but long enough for all the vibrant colors to have faded almost past recognition.

He continued walking down the dusty streets, listening to a hollow wind as it blew through unkempt houses, and found himself slowly slipping back into the faded memories at the back of his mind; a small part of him begging not to let the memories fade as the emblems had--life had been good once, however long ago, and for all it was worth he wanted to remember that…

Fingers trailed down crumbling walls as idle thoughts were soon replaced with foggy memories…

Ten years ago, Uchiha Sasuke thought, had been far too long ago.


	2. Rings

**Disclaimer:** The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama

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**02: Rings**

Sasuke had never really understood his brother's fascination with rings, but if it was something Itachi was concerned about then it must have been important.

Thus, how five-year old Sasuke found himself bringing up the topic of his mother's wedding ring one morning as she was slicing tomatoes for his lunch.

She smiled brightly, patting his head lightly before handing him a slice of tomato and explaining that, in the case of a wedding ring, it was something you gave someone you loved when you wanted them to stay by your side forever.

The next day Sasuke approached Itachi--sprawled out on the living room floor with various scrolls and papers--and tugged lightly at his sleeve, waiting for his brother's attention with as much patience as a young boy could muster.

"I want you to have this," he said finally, holding out a small silver ring.

Itachi sat himself up, looking from the ring to his brother's anxious face, before gracefully accepting the offer--attributing his brother's strangeness and blushing face to foolish young antics--and returning to his work.

Sasuke merely smiled, giving Itachi a quick hug before sitting down beside him and busying himself with trying to make sense of the cryptic scrolls strewn about the two of them.


	3. Omamori

**Disclaimer:** The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama  
**A/N:** -swipes definition from wikipedia- "Omamori, or ofuda, are Japanese amulets dedicated to particular Shinto deities as well as Buddhist figures. The word omamori means _honorable protector_ and they enclose papers or pieces of wood with prayers written on them, and are supposed to bring good luck to the bearer on particular occasions, tasks or ordeals. Omamori are also used to ward off bad luck and are often spotted on bags, in cars, etc. for safety in travel."

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**03: Omamori**

Uchiha Itachi made the life of a shinobi seem like a walk through the park on a warm spring day.

Sasuke knew this, the Uchiha clan knew this, and the whole of Konoha knew this.

So of course it came as a surprise when he returned home one day distant, spots of blood dotting his clothing, eyes unfocused and weary, and slumped immediately into bed.

Fugaku praised his son for a mission well-done, Mikoto silently worried, and Sasuke stood frozen in the living room where he'd first seen his brother walk into the house.

Never before had he seen Itachi look quite so worn--further investigation resulted in the knowledge that the rest of Itachi's team had fallen prey to an unexpected enemy.

Suddenly Sasuke found himself filled with an anxiety like none he had ever felt before: the knowledge that occasionally shinobi did not come back from missions. Sometimes from what were supposed to be easy, simple missions.

Though surely Itachi could be in no danger, being the genius and pride of the Uchiha clan as he was, the possibilities and doubts still hung darkly about his young brother's head.

A long, sleepless night and Itachi found he quite simply did not what to do with himself--until Sasuke carefully tiptoed into the room, climbed onto the bed, and curled up in his brother's arms.

"Nii-san…" he whispered, voice betraying a sleepless night of his own, "…I made something for you."

Itachi shook himself from his red-tinted thoughts, looking down at his small (and so painfully fragile, he noticed, fragile and innocent and destined to become as ruthless as the rest of them) brother, not bothering himself with sitting up.

"I made you an omamori, nii-san. See?" he held out the carefully-made amulet in one hand, "It'll keep you safe, so you don't have to worry… okay?"

Itachi only pulled Sasuke closer, the thought not occurring to tell his foolish brother that one could not simply 'make' an omamori, and that he didn't believe much in charms to begin with. The thought was all that really mattered, anyway.


	4. Lost

**Disclaimer:** The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama

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**04: Lost**

Uchihas, quite simply, did not get lost.

Especially not in the small--but dense--forest outskirting the Uchiha compound.

It was simply unheard of.

Therefore, Sasuke obviously could not possibly be lost.

No, of course not--he'd just miscalculated a turn was all, and he'd be a true Uchiha and find his way back quickly, efficiently, and with no problem at all.

By the time it was dark, Sasuke was sure he'd passed the same tree at least seven times, but after all he was an Uchiha and that simply wasn't possible; besides, all those trees did look the same.

An hour later he decided the forest was much larger than he'd remembered.

Back home his mother paced silently through the halls, weighing her options: she could go look for Sasuke--which would, of course, anger Fugaku, who would insist it was better training to let the boy find his own way home--or she could wait and worry and hate herself later should anything have happened.

Fugaku, though less noticeably, was concerned in his own way--even if he showed it mostly by being irritable and stubborn. Uchihas did not get lost, after all. The very idea was ridiculous.

Itachi, bored with his endless studying of scrolls and jutsu, excused himself quietly soon after his father had taken to giving speeches on what was expected of a young, upcoming shinobi.

Not ten minutes later Itachi stooped over his sniffling younger brother, sitting under one of many trees, and gently pushed the boy's bangs out of his face, "Uchihas don't get lost…" he chided gently, "…at least, not after the first time."


	5. Do You Remember?

**Disclaimer:** The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama  
**A/N:** This is probably my favorite thusfar. I switched up my writing style a little, and it really works well--makes it seem more like a memory, I suppose.

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**05: Do you remember…?**

"Do you remember," Sasuke starts, taking large steps in his summer yukata, swinging his arms as he walks, watching the fireflies stir above his head, "when I was born?"

Itachi fumbles mid-step, unnoticeable to any less of a shinobi than himself, and glances down at his young brother, "…why do you ask?"

"I don't know," Sasuke answers truthfully, "I don't remember it, so I was just wondering."

Itachi shrugs, looking out over the dock and recalling the long, torturous nights he spent grumbling that there was no way the loud and messy bundle in the next room was good for anything at all.

"I suppose," he answers, "What did you want to know about it?"

Sasuke reaches up to catch a firefly, the glowing bug slipping through his grasp easily before being caught by Itachi's own swift hand, "I don't know," he answers again, taking the offered bug from his brother's hands and peeking between his fingers to watch it light, "Did you like me?"

Itachi turns silent, and Sasuke is too preoccupied with his firefly to notice the time.

"…yes," Itachi answers after a pause, because despite it all, he will never forget holding his brother in his own arms for the first time.


	6. Anniversary

**Disclaimer:** The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama

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**06: Anniversary**

If there was one thing the whole of Konoha loved, it was festivals.

The Uchiha clan never seemed to be extensively present at any smaller than the festival for the founding of their village, but that was not to say the Uchiha clan did not like festivals--they simply had their own.

Sasuke watched with bright eyes as lanterns were hung and the streets of the Uchiha compound were decorated with colorful lights and banners. He'd never particularly understood what the purpose of the festival was, but it certainly was a highlight of each year.

That evening he tugged on Itachi's hand, distracting his brother momentarily from his dango, "Nii-san, what is this festival for?"

Itachi squeezed his brother's hand lightly before pulling him aside to a bench, out of the way of the festivities, "The anniversary of the beginning of our clan," he stated simply.

Sasuke watched the toes of his sandals draw patterns in the dirt as he swung his feet, not entirely understanding, but not wanting to press into the subject further.

Finishing the last of his dango, Itachi brought one leg up to sit sideways on the bench before pulling his young brother into his lap.

"The Uchiha clan and the Hyuuga clan," he began, wrapping his arms around Sasuke's shoulders, "were once one in the same. The sharingan derived from the byakugan."

Sasuke leaned back into his brother's warmth in the cooling night air, "…how did they get split apart?"

The older Uchiha absently rubbed his thumb against Sasuke's side, where his shirt had ridden up just enough to expose a small amount of skin, Sasuke noting the feeling wasn't unpleasant, "One of the Hyuuga clan, for whatever reason, decided they were none too keen on the way their clan did things, apparently. They left, married outside the clan, and became responsible for the mutation to the byakugan that would eventually become the sharingan."

Sasuke huddled closer, looking over to the street and realizing abruptly that the colors seemed duller, the music less stirring, the lanterns dim, "…so we're…"

"Celebrating the division of a family somewhere in the past," Itachi finished darkly, Sasuke finally understanding why it had taken so long to convince his brother to go with him that evening.

"…I want to go home."


	7. I Promise I'll Be Back

**Disclaimer:** The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama  
**A/N: **This one is lame and boring and doesn't go anywhere, but it is pretty true to the series, so I left it be.

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**07: I promise I'll be back…**

"Nii-san… nii-san, won't you train with me today?"

Itachi glanced up from the step where he was pulling on his sandals, seeing Sasuke standing in the doorway, a light tinge in his voice as if he already knew the answer.

"Sasuke… I have a mission today."

"_Nii-san…_"

Itachi halted, turning to face his younger brother at the tone in his voice, "I'll be back later."

"But you always say later!" Sasuke replied, almost pouting, "You take too many missions."

"Perhaps," Itachi observed, "It's not like I can turn down missions for no good reason, though."

Sasuke didn't seem overly convinced: "I _am_ a good reason."

A slight pause before Itachi stood to ruffle his younger brother's hair, "Sure you are."

"Later… promise?"

"Promise."


	8. Sunset

**Disclaimer:** The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama

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**08: Sunset**

Sasuke had always liked the sunset.

It was fleeting, it was beautiful, and no matter what combination of colors filled the sky, it always seemed as though it wasn't possible for the colors to have mixed any other way.

"Just like you, nii-san," Sasuke grinned over at his older brother one evening.

Itachi paused, taking his gaze away from the fading sunlight to look at his younger brother, "Like me?"

"Yeah… you're pretty, I don't get to see you as often as I'd like, and you're always perfect."

The elder Uchiha gave a tired smile, pulling Sasuke into a loose hug as he watched the last rays of sun disappear beyond the horizon, "But the sunset gives way to night, does it not? …I think I rather like the sunrise more."


	9. Figuring

**Disclaimer:** The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama  
**A/N: **I'm an uploadin' machine ...well, I've had all of these pre-written, actually. I can't help but want to post them all as fast as possible. 3: I'm trying to space them out, but it's hard... -sigh- ...well, I'm running out of pre-written things, so I'll have to get back to writing soon, I guess.

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**09: Figuring**

Uchiha Itachi was good at figuring things out--after all, he wasn't considered the genius of the Uchiha clan for nothing.

Sasuke, on the other hand, tended to be a bit oblivious most of the time.

It wasn't until one afternoon when Itachi had silently followed his younger brother to their preferred spot of shuriken practice--an unspoken agreement that he would, for once, help with his training--that Sasuke would get his first clue.

Itachi had watched silently as Sasuke clumsily threw a handful of shuriken (most hitting the outsides of the target he was aiming for) before walking up behind him to take his younger brother's hand in his own, guiding him through the motions necessary to throw with the best accuracy.

They stood like that for a brief moment, Itachi not moving his hand away, running his thumb gently over the back of his brother's smaller hand; lost in a world of his own. Itachi's hands were never calloused, Sasuke noted absently, no matter how much he trained. It was a testament to his raw ability, in a way.

Abruptly Sasuke was pulled from his thoughts and drawn close into his brother's arms, Itachi kneeling beside him to mumble softly into his hair, "Why haven't you figured it out yet…?"

Suddenly he was very much aware that they were no longer speaking of shuriken.


	10. I'll Miss You

**Disclaimer:** The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama

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**10: I'll miss you**

"Itachi, you can't go!" Sasuke yelled, barging into the room where his brother and father had been speaking, having been eavesdropping on the conversation from outside the door.

His sibling didn't turn to look at him--his father, on the other hand, was irate.

An extremely long stern talking to later, Sasuke sat on Itachi's bed, waiting for his brother and father to finish their previous conversation. It seemed like a long time before the older Uchiha returned, walking in as if he already knew Sasuke would be there--which, granted, he probably did.

"Itachi!" Sasuke cried immediately upon seeing him, "You can't take that mission!"

Moving to sit on the side of the bed, Itachi pulled Sasuke over to sit beside him before replying, "Why not?"

"Because!" the smaller boy shouted, tears forming at the corners of his eyes, "You can't, you just can't! A month, a month-long mission, they don't need you for that! Leave it to the adults, leave it to the ANBU, just please, please nii-san!"

He was clutching desperately at the fabric of his brother's shirt, now, tears cascading down his cheeks and leaving damp prints where they fell, "Please, nii-san…"

Hand slowly rubbing his brother's back, Itachi's face remained as emotionless as always, eyes focused on an unspecified point in the distance, "…why does it matter how long the mission is?"

Sobbing now, Sasuke clambered into Itachi's lap--_look at me, look at me when I'm begging you_--and closed the distance between them with a harsh, inexperienced kiss, the force of his weight toppling them over onto the bed.

Startled, Itachi stared up at his sibling with near disbelief, speechless for what was quite possibly the first time in his life.

"Because I'll miss you, nii-san…"


	11. Wait For Me

**Disclaimer:** The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama  
**A/N:** I wrote this one in school on my new laptop. XD Fun stuff.

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**11: Wait for me...**

"Itachi..." Sasuke's voice was almost inaudible, fighting to be heard over the silence of the damp night air, "Nii-san, you take too many missions. You never used to have this many."

The older Uchiha glanced over from where he sat on the back porch, looking over at the other in the dim light of the moon, "I never used to be ANBU captain."

He felt, rather than saw, the pout, "You shouldn't have accepted that. You're never home. They don't need you for that."

Itachi sighed, looking back out at the midnight sky, counting stars silently, "I can't just _not_ take missions or advances in rank, otouto. It doesn't work that way."

"I still don't like it."

Another silence stretched between the two before Sasuke abruptly climbed into his sibling's lap, looking up at him, voice suddenly soft, "Will you wait for me?"

Itachi blinked down at the other, expression unreadable as his hands drifted to hold his younger sibling in place, "...wait?"

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded, grabbing his brother's shirt in his hands and snuggling down into the warmth, closing his eyes, "Wait until I become a good shinobi, like you... and we can go on missions together."

Counting stars again. There were never enough of them to lose track of with the sharingan, but with dark ebony eyes they seemed to go on endlessly.

"...until then..." Not an answer. "...would you wait for me?"

Sasuke pulled away, looking at the other in confusion, "I... don't understand."

"When I'm away, when you're here alone... would you wait for me?"

"Yes," always, I'll always wait for you, nii-san, "because you always come home, right?"

No answer.

"Would you wait forever?"

"Of course," because to dark ebony eyes 'forever' is as impossible to comprehend as the stars themselves.


	12. Is It You?

**Disclaimer: **The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama  
**A/N: **Sorry for the huge hiatus. Between life going all to hell and being out of practice, I haven't had a lot of time for anything. Then I realized that I've gotten to the angstier half of these drabble prompts, and decided it was a good way to let off steam. Sorry for the darkness and lower quality writing than you're used to.

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**12: Is it you?**

Itachi had changed, Sasuke was sure.

This wasn't particularly new; Itachi had changed a lot of times.

When he had first come home bloodstained with eyes unfocused, every time he had been promoted, that time Fugaku had lectured him about wasting too much time fooling around with Sasuke when they could both be training, when he had made the rank of ANBU captain…

Sasuke had watched these changes take place over the course of a few years, and it wasn't until he stopped and tried to remember what Itachi had looked like, acted like before that he realized just how much had changed. Just how little time it had been.

Itachi didn't look at him anymore.

That change hurt the most.

He had tried to remember when that one had taken place, but it had happened without him like so many other things. Being too young to understand or imagine reasons why, it was too difficult to make an accurate estimate as to which events might have caused it.

_Would you wait forever?_

Sasuke sat at the front steps every day until Itachi came home.

Until one time he didn't.

"Nii-san, you're late!" Sasuke grinned, standing fast enough to make the blood rush from his head, causing his vision to spin momentarily.

The stranger who looked like Itachi brushed him aside.

"Nii-san?"

The stranger who moved like Itachi wouldn't look at him, either.

"How did the missio--"

The stranger whose eyes were like Itachi's cut him off with a vacant look; Sasuke stepped back involuntarily at the smudge of blood across the man's face. Sharingan eyes looked _through_ him, not at him. They were too cold to be his brother's.

"…Itachi?"

"Sorry, Sasuke… it's been a long day."

The younger Uchiha just shook his head softly, eyes falling to watch Itachi pull off his sandals--stained the color of rust along the sole--and rising back up to watch the door to the house slide closed.

_Is that really you?_

Sasuke slowly moved to sit at the steps again--waiting; not _that_ much had changed… had it?


	13. Chimes

**Disclaimer: **The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama  
**A/N: **I knew what I wanted to write for this one, but it just didn't want to come out that way. This still isn't exactly how I wanted it, but it works well enough, I suppose. And GASP is that a hint of continuity I see? I think it might be. ;D**  
**

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**13: Chimes**

There was a set of wind chimes just outside one of the windows in the ANBU office building.

Sasuke only remembered this because something important had happened there, and the gentle sound of chimes in a light breeze never failed to bring the memory back full force; as if he were back in the office sitting on that same desk, looking up at Itachi and asking the same pointless questions he never had gotten the answers to.

_What do you do here? What kind of missions do ANBU go on? Will I be ANBU someday? Why did you bring me here if meetings are restricted? How come I couldn't go anyway since you brought me in the first place?_

Itachi ignored all of them, placing his hands on the desk so that they rested on either side of his younger sibling, looking him in the eyes for the first time in what may as well have been years for all Sasuke knew.

_What are you doing?_

And when the distance was abruptly closed between them, a low order of "don't ask so many questions," against his lips before there was no distance left at all, maybe Sasuke should have been a little more surprised.

But it was the first time Itachi had so much as touched him since that time he'd been roughly shoved aside after begging the older boy not to leave on that month-long mission he still hadn't forgiven him for going on in the first place; so maybe just this once it was okay and he didn't need to worry about _why_ this was happening or whether or not it should be.

Itachi was paying attention to him--the sound of chimes rang soothingly through the open window as Sasuke decided that was all he'd ever really needed.


	14. Wonderland

**Disclaimer: **The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama  
**A/N: **This one was a lot harder, and also I think is only the second time I haven't actually used the name of the prompt in the writing. Personally I think this is wordy and hard to follow, but I've been told that I'm just being self-depreciating again.**  
**

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**14: Wonderland**

The next few weeks may as well have been a dream.

Where previously Itachi had been an unreachable entity Sasuke merely chased after the shadow of, now he seemed to be everywhere.

Itachi walked him to the academy, back home at the end of the day, stroked his hair at night until he drifted into light slumber in which Itachi filled his dreams—and yet, Itachi had never seemed more distant.

Sasuke, unsure what to make of the situation, let himself drift along complacently through the strange but not unwelcome new reality Itachi had crafted between them. He worried about the growing distance only when Itachi returned from missions late at night, beckoning the younger brother into his room only to silently hold him close; the distance all too evident in the older Uchiha's eyes through the uncharacteristic, unguarded exhaustion nightfall permitted where expectations did not.

He wondered once, held close by strong arms in a familiar grip and listening to his elder sibling's rhythmic heartbeat, if the strange behavior was due to something troubling the other—the thought reoccurring that perhaps Itachi got the same sort of comfort out of having him close as Sasuke himself got in being close.

The now-frequent lingering touch became as commonplace as the usual denied requests for this and that—soft caresses and gentle kisses that might not have happened at all—and it was all Sasuke could do to remember at times that the airy breathless feeling left in the wake of dreams that might not have been was not simply his imagination.


	15. Thoughts of Friends

**Disclaimer: **The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama  
**A/N: **Itachi's comment is based on my own version of exactly what happened with Shisui and the whole murder thing, but it's ambiguous so that people who don't know what I'm on about won't be confused. Or because these are Sasuke's memories and he didn't understand what Itachi meant, whichever works for you.

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**15: Thoughts of friends**

"Was Shisui your friend?"

"I thought so."

Sasuke wasn't sure what to make of that. If Itachi hadn't always been hard to read, he might have thought the ambiguous answer somewhat strange. As it was, he simply made a face, looking away. He hated to admit that sometimes he couldn't tell apart the inflections in his sibling's voice that would indicate exactly what he meant.

"Am I your friend?" he asked suddenly, voice hushed as though he wasn't entirely sure he wanted the other to answer.

Itachi, laying back on his bed, just stared at the ceiling. The younger brother hoped that meant he hadn't heard.

"Why do you ask?"

Sasuke nearly jumped from where he was sitting before looking back at the other, face flushed slightly with embarrassment; of course Itachi had heard--he was Itachi, after all. Their gaze met for only a moment before the elder Uchiha's eyes shifted to look back at the empty ceiling, and suddenly Sasuke needed an answer more than he ever could have imagined.

"Because," he crawled closer, laying his head on the other's shoulder and bringing his hand up to clutch almost desperately at the soft material of his sibling's shirt, "you're _my_ friend."

He was met with a soft kiss in reply that left him feeling hazy and comfortable--forgetting entirely that he was still waiting on an answer to his own question.

"You think so?"

_I thought so._


	16. Bizarre

**Disclaimer: **The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama  
**A/N: **Long time no update! The last few prompts leading up to some very specific ones I've already written have been giving me trouble. I actually stole two lines in here out of a movie, though I'm not entirely sure which movie it was. Never let anyone tell you that you don't get anything useful out of school! They were very inspiring lines. -sage nod- Also, there's some ambiguity as to who actually says the second line, but it's kind of intentional. It works either way, so I didn't feel like I really needed/wanted to clarify.

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**16: Bizarre**

The trouble with being the head of the Uchiha clan lay in the fact of the matter that people only respected you for it when there was no trouble about. When men died, however, the responsibility loomed overhead like a great and unmanageable fog.

Fugaku stood before a distant cousin, describing in detail the past day's mission and all its occurrences, words just detectably clipped in agitation, shooting pointed glares at the son who had refused to do the duty himself. Itachi glared back.

Sasuke clung to his sibling's hand, watching the face of a distant relative whose name he couldn't be sure of for any trace of emotion—this man's only son was deceased. He didn't appear at all troubled by the fact. Did he just not care; the youngest couldn't help but wonder. Would Fugaku look just as bored with similar news, were the situation reversed?

"He was the first to die in battle," Fugaku stated plainly, clinically, "there are no wounds in his back." He did no retreating, was not snuck up upon—for a shinobi, it was almost the best one could really hope for.

"Will you use such fine words when your own sons lie dead?"

Sasuke's grip on his brother's hand tightened involuntarily. Looking up at the stoic face and smoldering ebony eyes, he shivered at the sudden intensity of the overbearing silence that had fallen over their small crowd.

Itachi led him away before Fugaku could find the nerve to answer.

Shielded from the oppressive, sticky heat of late summer underneath the broad branches of the forest surrounding Itachi's personal training ground, Sasuke sprawled himself listlessly across his brother's lap.

"Otousan didn't answer," the younger boy mumbled softly, eyes drifting closed as the now-familiar warmth of his sibling's hand gently stroked his cropped, messy hair.

"Is that so bizarre?" Itachi responded quietly, more to himself than the smaller Uchiha. Sasuke considered this, eyebrows furrowed, for a moment before heaving a heavy sigh. No, it wasn't, he decided.

Sasuke, suddenly remembering the nameless relative he wouldn't miss, moved away from the topic of uneasy discussion; "Did you know him?"

"Not especially."

Sasuke sat up, straddling his brother's lap to face him; too familiar by now with Itachi's touch to notice the way strong but gentle hands drifted lower, towards his hips, to hold him still where he had shifted, "Were you there?"

"I was around, yes," the other answered slowly, curious as to where his younger sibling's train of thought was leading him.

Sasuke's expression caught between consideration and discomfort, he put his arms around the other's neck, pulling himself flush against his brother's chest and listening to the soothing, rhythmic heartbeat found there. He didn't like to think about Itachi being involved in missions where members of their own clan—they were the best and the brightest, after all—did not return home.

Another sudden thought spurred on the next question, surprising even himself: "Did he die with honor?" It was a strange question to ask even to begin with; and after all he had heard the discussion from before—father would have assured him that the answer was 'yes'.

There was no pause, no hesitation in his sibling's response.

"There is no such thing."

Father and Itachi never seemed to agree. No, he supposed, that wasn't all too bizarre either.


	17. Please Forget About Me

**Disclaimer: **The Uchiha clan belongs entirely to Masashi Kishimoto-sama**  
A/N: **I wrote the first half of this immediately after sitting on the bench by my window watching the rain and having my cat pay me an unexpected visit. He sat in the window sill and looked at me curiously before deciding not to disturb the moment. Then I totally forgot about it. It was originally written for the last prompt, but I like it so much looking back on it that I may as well finish it and include it another way. It has a bit of characterization I'd like to keep.

The end is kind of... ahem. Yes I'm blatantly suggesting what you think I am, to one degree or another. Think what you will. Next chapter will be some brief introspection (which is still relatively placed in the time line where I'm at, so it's not that far a stretch) and then we get back to recounting events. Bust out the tissues, 'cause I'm almost to my favorite part of writing--the angst.

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**17: Please forget about me... **

The rainfall was unusual for this time of year; a slow and steady downpour that looked as though it might but never quite reached the torrent everyone seemed to expect it would.

Soft beats of rain like an endless metronome mingled with echoes of careful barefoot steps across the cold wooden floor, inquisitive grey eyes studying the sight so out of place in a home such as this. Itachi sat at the bench just under an open window, legs pulled up so that he could rest his head upon his knees, arms folded at the window sill.

Sasuke paused in his steps, unsure whether or not he would be intruding should he come any closer.

The Uchiha prodigy, ANBU captain, Sasuke's own older brother--he looked so young. Gazing out the open window at the steady drizzle that fell upon them all equally; he didn't look so much a god as any other boy or man.

Eventually stepping forward, pulling himself up to sit along the other end of the window sill, Sasuke leaned back against the rain-chilled glass in silence. While it was not a comfortable silence by any means, no awkward tension hung in the air--the younger boy vaguely wondered if the other was even aware of his presence at all.

The moist, fresh air felt oddly out of place; the steady metronome of rain counting away seconds and minutes of life that would never be returned gave way to an overwhelming atmosphere of melancholy in which something grungy and stale might have fitted more accurately.

Somewhere along the way it had all become some abysmal ceremony of mourning; Sasuke almost wanted to ask who else had died.

He didn't get a chance, Itachi suddenly breaking the heavy silence.

"Most people find the rain depressing."

Sasuke glanced at the other to find Itachi still hadn't looked away from the steady rain; if not for the fact that he knew better, he might have even convinced himself that Itachi was simply thinking aloud.

"I like it, sometimes," the younger boy tried, surprised at how his voice came out more of a whisper than he'd intended, though still grateful for having not yet destroyed the melancholy mood. Itachi only bothered initiating conversations after a great deal of thought; typically their contents were above the younger brother's head, but Sasuke was always more than willing to see how much of the other's thoughts he could get Itachi to share. "It helps me sleep."

Itachi finally pulled his eyes away from the fading light and seemingly endless rain that hadn't let up or increased in its downpour for an hour or more, something akin to a smile pulling at the corners of his lips, but much too fitting of the dismal atmosphere to possibly be.

Taking the silent cue, Sasuke held out one arm, allowing his sibling to grasp his waist and pull him down off the windowsill and into his lap.

Itachi's thoughts were not for sharing this evening, Sasuke presumed. But then, they rarely were.

He awoke later that night, tucked safely away in his own bed, and allowed himself to question whether or not he had fallen asleep in his brother's arms listening to the gentle metronome of rain and dreamed the events that transpired afterwards: whether or not he had misheard the words he supposed he hadn't really been meant to hear in the first place, spoken softly against his shoulder (neck or lips or maybe even the inside of his thigh, he can't remember now if anyone really said anything at all, much less against where) f_orget about moments like these--_like what?

_They will hurt the worst, someday._

It isn't until much later he understands why Itachi cared to warn him in the first place.


End file.
